A Nutrition Challenge for All IU Employees, Spouses of Employees, and IU students
Registration open August through October 14
Back to Our Roots: Plant Eating Challenge
It's time to thrive! Back to Our Roots is a 3-week challenge to add a wide variety of plant-based foods to your meals and snacks. The goal is for participants to explore new plant-based foods and enjoy more of their old favorites.
During the challenge, participants will log the different kinds of plant-based foods they eat in their Personal Tracker. They'll also receive helpful nutrition tips and information from Healthy IU. Back to Our Roots is not about depriving or cutting out any foods that you currently enjoy. Just make sure you leave room for all the plants you'll be trying!
Plant-based foods include:
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Grains
- Nuts & Seeds
- Beans & Legumes
- Herbs & Spices
Note: If you are currently following a special diet as part of the treatment or management of a disease or condition, please speak with your doctor before participating in the Back to Our Roots challenge.
Learn more about Back to Our Roots below!
Plant-based foods help us thrive from head to toe! Here are just a few reasons:
- Often times, people focus on eating less of certain things to improve their diet.With this challenge, we are focusing on what we can eat more of, specifically plant-based foods. We hope you feel great about including more of something in your diet!
- Every plant food contains a unique combination of health-promoting compounds called phytonutrients. There are literally thousands of different phytonutrients found in nature, and eating a variety of plants is a great way to include more of them in your diet.
- The fiber contained in plant foods feeds the beneficial bacteria in our digestive tract (gut bacteria). Eating a variety of plants helps to promote a healthy diversity of bacterial species.
- Plants are a great source of many essential vitamins and minerals. Just like with phytonutrients, you can't get everything you need from just one or two plants.
- Whole plant foods are great for our minds and bodies! They have been shown to help us reduce risk of chronic disease, and improve mood and overall quality of life.
During the 3-week challenge, participants set a weekly goal and track the number of different plant foods they eat each week. They'll receive weekly emails with tips, recipes, and more. After the challenge is over, participants will receive a link to an Evaluation Survey.
The incentive for this challenge is a 3-in-1 cutlery tool (available on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last). Signing up earlier provides the best chance to receive an incentive. To receive the incentive, participants must:
- Be an IU employee, employee’s spouse on an IU medical plan, or an IU student
- Participate in all 3 weeks of the challenge
- Complete the online challenge evaluation survey at the end
Thank you to IU Sustainability for providing the challenge incentive!
Plant Party Pitch-In!
Your department or group can host your own Plant Party anytime.
- Choose a date, time, and location convenient for your group.
- Pass around the Pitch-In Sign Up Sheet to your group.
- Make sure to share this handout about the power of plants!
- Host your Party and HAVE FUN while you discover delicious plant-based dishes.
Suggested Pitch-In Recipes
These recipes can help get your party started! But feel free to make your own favorites!
Double check your spam/junk folders. Challenge emails are sent via Qualtrics. Qualtrics admins sometimes come across the situation of Qualtrics users not receiving emails. Their advice is to reach out to UITS support (or your TechSelect rep, if you are a TechSelect client), who will work with you to make sure there is nothing in your email settings filtering out Qualtrics items. Participants who do not receive the challenge emails have a couple options:
- Short-term fix: Let Healthy IU know at healthyu@iu.edu. We will work with you to send you the challenge content in another way.
And/or
- Long-term solution: Contact UITS or TechSelect to help adjust your email settings.
- UITS support: https://uits.iu.edu/tech-help
Does this food count as a plant?
That’s entirely up to you! Back to Our Roots doesn’t have any strict rules regarding what counts or doesn’t count as a plant. Use your best judgement and set your own guidelines based on what works best for your personal goals.
How much of a plant do I have to eat for it to count? Does it have to be a full serving?
You don’t need to eat a specific amount or serving size for it to count. Even if you have just one almond or only a bite of an apple, you can still count it toward your weekly total.
I ate two different types of a plant. Does that count as one or two plants?
If you want to count different types of plants, you can use the blank spaces to fill in additional plants. The pre-populated lists of plant includes only broad categories of plants and not specific types. For example, you won’t see different types of lettuce or mushrooms listed, only “lettuce” and “mushroom.” Again, there aren’t any strict rules regarding how you count your plants, so do what feels right for you.
Does it matter if I eat organic, local, or seasonal plants?
Choosing organic, local, and seasonal plant foods has many benefits, but the Back to Our Roots challenge does not focus on these aspects of the plants you eat.
If you have additional questions, don't hesitate to contact us at healthyu@iu.edu.